Health

PUBLISHED: 07:00 21 January 2019 Aaron Walawalkar Kathleen Wright in the wet room without a shower with children Ashton aged 9 and Aaleigha 10 Archant A disabled 10-year-old girl who underwent hip surgery has been unable to shower for almost a week because her housing association has not installed the equipment she needs. Aaleigha Wright has had to wash in the downstairs sink of her home in St Francis Way, Ilford, since Sunday evening, January 13. On Monday she had surgery to correct a deformity in her leg which has rendered her unable to walk up the stairs of her home to use the shower. Their home has a wet room on the ground floor but no working shower has been fitted in it.“I feel like we’ve been treated very badly and quite disrespected,” said mum Kathleen, 34. “She feels dirty because she cannot wash except for in the sink. “And my daughter is one of those girls that showers or baths morning and night.”Kathleen … [Read more...] about Disabled Ilford girl, 10, could not wash for days because housing association did not install shower

PUBLISHED: 10:35 17 January 2019 Sam Volpe Sari Alikhani at home in Primrose Hill. Picture: Polly Hancock Archant When paraplegic Westminster woman Sari Alikhani moved five minutes down the road to a new Camden flat, she was assured that transferring her care plan would be straightforward. It has proved to be anything but for Sari, 40, who became paralysed from the waist down after contracting Guillain-Barré syndrome five years ago. In Westminster, Sari’s care funding allowed her mother Barbara – who acts both as a carer for her during the nights and for her father who suffers from Alzheimer’s – six weeks respite funding. Camden has only accounted for two days of this, leaving Sari stunned. It has also assessed her finances and asked her to pay £133 a week towards the personal budget for her care.Sari said she accepts this, if it is what the council deems her capable of paying, but Westminster didn’t require her to … [Read more...] about Social care funding: Westminster woman loses respite and forced too pay more towards care after moving across Camden border

Sophie Taylor. Picture: Taylor family Archant A fearless five-year-old girl whose cancer plight gripped the hearts of thousands has died, a year after she was first diagnosed with the disease. James Maddison carries Sophie Taylor on Saturday, April 7. Photo: Jasonpix/NCFCSophie Taylor, from Sprowston, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma - bone cancer - in January last year.And although it was news which could have broken many her family remained positive and defiant, vowing to stick their tongues out at cancer and fight every step of the way.However tragically Sophie died in the early hours of Friday, just days after her family were told her cancer had aggressively returned, and spread to her lungs.It was a particularly cruel situation, as just a month before the family had celebrated Sophie being in remission and awaiting a new prosthetic leg, which they had called her magic leg.Sprowston schoolgirl Sophie Taylor. Photo: supplied by the Taylor familyAnd the family should have been … [Read more...] about ‘Mummy and daddy will mourn forever’

Poll PUBLISHED: 13:05 16 January 2019 | UPDATED: 17:30 16 January 2019 Liz Coates Catherine Blaiklock, UKIP parliamentary candidate, Great Yarmouth, General Election 2017. Photo: George Ryan Archant The former UKIP parliamentary candidate for Great Yarmouth claims that food banks are contributing to obesity and that the poor “cannot be bothered” to cook. Writing online for The Conservative Woman, Catherine Blaiklock argues that no-one in Britain should be starving because potatoes are cheap at her farm shop and living on nothing but boiled potatoes would be healthier than being handed a box of products in tins and packets.Addressing claims that millions of people struggle to put food on the table she compares the plight of Britain’s poorest families with the Sherpas in the Himalayas who eat “practically nothing but boiled potatoes with a bit of salt and chilli on the side.”“You get bored with both the eating and … [Read more...] about ‘Let them eat spuds!’ Ex-UKIP candidate says food banks are fuelling the obesity crisis

PUBLISHED: 13:31 14 January 2019 | UPDATED: 13:46 14 January 2019 Sprowston schoolgirl Sophie Taylor underwent a major operation on one of her legs at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore. She is pictured here in hospital after the operation. Photo: supplied by the Taylor family supplied by the Taylor family She has spent a year bravely fighting and defiantly sticking her tongue out at cancer. Sophie Taylor. Picture: Taylor familyBut just two days after the anniversary of her diagnosis, Norwich five-year-old Sophie Taylor was told the disease had returned - aggressively.After facing treatment, surgery and constant hospital visits, things had been looking bright for the Sprowston schoolgirl.It was January last year when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma - bone cancer.Sophie Taylor, with Darrell Green, at the UEA lab examining her tumour. Photo: Alex TaylorBy December she was in remission and was waiting a new prosthetic leg, nicknamed her ‘magic … [Read more...] about ‘Devastated beyond words’